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SELF CENTERING ROLLER BEARING. APPLICATION F|LED 0r:T.12,191.l

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GEORGE A. JOHNSON, OF CHICAGO, ILILINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 WILLIAM H. MINER, OF CRAZY, NEW YORK.

SELF-CENTERING ROLLEKBEARING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oct. 7, 1919.

Application filed October 12, 1918. Serial No. 257,838.v

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE A. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain n ew and useful Improvement in Self-Centering Roller-Bearings, of which the followlng 1s a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in self-centering roller bearings.

One object of this invention is tov provide a simple, practical and relatively inexpensive rollerl bearing especially adapted for railway car side bearings and wherein 1s employed a minimum number of arts with an anti-friction roller that is sel -centering without the aid of springs or other parts likely to get out of order.

More specifically, the object of the invention is to provide an anti-friction roller side bearing for railway cars of a truecylindrical anti-friction roller type possessing all the usual advantages of the true cylindrical roller bearing combined with the self-centering advantages of the usual type of rocker side bearing and Without the disadvantages usually accompanying either of said types.

In the art of anti-friction bearings, and particularly side bearings for railway cars, many eEorts have been made to provide an anti-friction bearing for the bolsters of a car and so designed that the anti-friction element will maintain a uniform distance between the opposed bearing surfaces of the bolsters and at the same time have the antifriction element adapted to return to normal position after the removal of the actuating pressure. With a true cylindrical anti-friction roller, it has heretofore been necessary to provide some additional means for returning the roller to central normal position since, with the true cylindrical roller the roller is not permitted to rise up inclined tracks because of the necessity of maintaining the uniform heights. These vadditional means have generally included a spring or springs arranged in a great v ariety of ways. As will be evident, the springs constitute the weakest element of the bearing and thereby shorten its life or require frequent repair, aside from the additional first cost. With the rocker bearing .of the usual type,

the permissible amount of travel of the antifriction element has been restrictedto a certain extent; the action has not entirely simulated that of a trueI cylindrical roller; and various other difficulties have been encountered in the successful operation of the rocker bearings due to the tendency of the comprises only two elements, the retaining casting and the roller itself, and at the same time design the parts so that the roller will be self-centered after each actuation.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure lis a vertical, sectional view of a side bearing applied to a railway car, the body and truck bolsters being also shownin section. Fig. 2 is a" vertical, sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. And Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the bearing shown in Fig. 1, with roll in dotted lines.

In said drawing, 10 denotes a truck bolster of a railway car and 11 an opposed body bolster an-d between which the improved side bearing is interposed. As shown in the drawing, the improved side bearing` comprises a retaining member A and an anti-friction element B.

The retaining member A is preferably in the form of a casting and is formed at the bottom thereof with suitable perforated ears or flanges 12 'by which the retaining member A is adapted to be riveted or otherwise secured to the truck bolster. The retaining member A is formed with end Walls 18-13 that diverge slightly in an upward direction or, in other words, the end walls 13 are inclined in the position shown in Fig. 1, for the purpose hereinafter described. The member A is provided yalso with p-arallel side walls lil-14 and with a pair/of longitudinally extending, horizontal, parallel bearing seats 15-15 on which lare preferably applied steel inserts 1616 to increase the wearing qualities.

The anti-friction element B comprises a true cylindrical portion 116, the ends of which roll along the horizon-tal bearing seats hereinbefore referred to and as most clearly illustrated` in Fig. 2. It Will be noted that a sullicient portion of the roller bears on the seats so as -to obtain great strength and without danger of fthe roller crushing due to it being supported at points spaced too far apart and thereby permitting too great a bending moment to be imiposed upon the roller. At its center and adapted to be disposed between .the horizontal bearing seats, the member B is provided with a preferably integral normally dependlng eccentric weight 17 curved on its under face as indicated at 18 and having preferably llat faces 19--19 that extend tangentially to the curved surface of the roller proper. The element B is preferably cored, as indicated at 20,-so as to facilitate the casting .of the roller Iand at its ends, the member B 1s 'provided with annular bosses 21--21 which are adapted to travel within longitudinally extending recesses or offsets 22-22 formed in the side Walls of the retaining member A. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the base member A is formed with vertical openings 23 adapted to permit entrance of the annular bosses 21 into said recesses 22 after which the upstanding tongues or flanges 24 of the base member A are adapted to be hammered over into the position shown at 124 in Fig. 1.

By making the retaining member A in the form of a malleable casting and constructing it in the manner described, the parts can be locked against accidental disengagement after the roller has been assembled with the casting A.

The normal position of the antl-frlction element with respect to the retaining member A is shown by the full lines in Fig. 1. As will be evident, upon relative horizontal movement between the two bolsters of the car, the roller will be given, a true rolling movement 'along the coperating horizontal bearing seats until the limit of movement is reached, Ias indicated for instance, by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. The amount of permissible rolling movement will depend'upon the diameter of the anti-friction element and the inclined faces 19 of the eccentric Weight are s0 located with respectto the inclined end walls 13 of the base casting that .said inclined edges' 19 will bear flatly against the inclined end walls lat the end of the rolling movement of the anti-friction elements and as clearly shown in Fig. 1. As will be evident, as the anti-friction element is moved off center, the eccentric. weight is lifted and will therefore automatically return the antifriction element to normal under the inlluence of gravity when the pressure is removed from the anti-friction element.

I wishto -call attention also to another importantvfeature of my invention. Heretofore, in many types of side bearings wherein gravity is depended upon to Ireturn an element to normal position, as for instance, down an incline, it frequently occurs that cinders or other foreign matter will accumulate on the runways and the anti-friction element will be jounced in such manner when not in actual operation as to brin the antifriction element to rest at a, consi erable distance olf center or norm-al position. As a result, when the anti-friction element is actuated, the permissible travel thereof falls short of the requirements and the bearing does not perform its proper function. By forming the depending eccentric weight of my roller in the manner disclosed and locating it with respect to the end walls as shown, it is impossible for my anti-friction element to get off center and be held there except for a very limited distance, to-wit, the shortest distance between an end wall and the depending eccentric weight. In other words, the distance which m anti-friction element can be accidentally he d off center, due to accumulation of cinders, jarring of the bearing or other causes, is limited to any desired degree and is `dependent upon the spacing between the eccentric weight and the end i alls of the casting. In actual practice, this amount of possible olfsettin of the antifriction element can be limite to such an extent as to always insure leaving ample permissible rotating movement of the roller to carry out the function of the bearing. As will be evident, any foreign matter that does accumulate on the horizontal bearing seats will be ground beneath the roller when it is actuated and will readily wash out through the openings 25 left in the ends of the base casting A.

From the preceding description, it will be seen that my device can be manufactured at arelatively small expense; can be easily assembled and when assembled, the parts cannot become displaced or accidentally disassembled; the bearing consists of a minimumnumber of parts and embodies all the advanta es of a true cylindrical anti-friction roller with the self-centering feature without the aid of extraneous means such as have heretofore been generally employed.

Although I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out the invention, the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that vcome within the scope of the claim appended hereto..

I claim:

In an anti-friction bearing of the character described, the combination with a base casting having spaced, longitudinally extending bearing seats on its interior, said casting having also inclined end walls extending transversely of said seats, of an anti-friction roller supported at its ends upon said bearing seats, said roller having with the inclined end Walls of the base east- .an eccentrically and integrally formed secing to limit the rolling movement of the tion normally depending between said seats, anti-friction element. 10 said section merging with the surface of the In Witness that I Claim the foregoing I 5 rolle'r by means of edges disposed tangential have hereunto subscribed my name this 9th to the curved surface of the roller, said tanday of Oct., 1918. gential edges being arranged to Coperate GEORGE A. JOHNSON. 

